Walnut Creek gets new mayor as new council takes seats

The Village of Walnut Creek will no longer see Ken Ritt in the mayor's chair.

The council said goodbye to Mayor Ken Ritt and hello to Mayor Darrell Horne Friday morning.

Horne was excited to take the position.

"It felt pretty good to tell you the truth," he said of his being appointed mayor. "I kind of expected it. Some people asked me if I was nominated if I would accept, and I told them I would honored to."

As the longest-serving member of the council, Horne said the mayoral nomination usually goes to the council member who has more experience, and with his 12 years, he feels he can make the council proud.

Danny Jackson, who has served on the council the second longest, was nominated for mayor pro-tem, which he accepted.

Jackson has served on the council for eight years and plans to serve for many more.

But before Horne was appointed, he, Ritt and Kathy Daniels welcomed Jackson and Thomas Shaw back to the council.

Newcomer Greg Ricker was also welcomed.

The three were sworn in as the first order of business at the council's special meeting.

Ritt served his last day as mayor as the second order of business.

Before he left, he wanted to thank everyone for making his job an easy one, he said.

"It is a special place, and I'm going to miss it," Ritt said.

And after many joked that he wouldn't, he joked right back.

"I am going to miss it, a little bit, not really," he said, laughing.

Ritt has been the mayor of the village for 12 years, but he served on the council for 16 years.

And as a thank you from the council and the village, he got to keep his gavel.

As the third and last order of business, the council decided to rescind the mandatory water shortage ordinance so that it could be reworded.